Azim Premji asks IT sector to not fall into ‘India Advantage’ trap

New Delhi, June 13 (ANI): Wipro chief Azim Premji has asked the Indian IT industry to get ready to face the global competition, and not fall into a mind trap of ‘India Advantage’.

“We have talked a lot about India advantage. That makes me extremely worried. It’s a huge amount of thumping on the back (by Indian IT industry),” Premji said at the 5th India Innovation Summit 2009, organized by the Confederation of Indian Industry.

He warned that BPO exports from the Philippines are likely to be pretty close to that of India in year 2009.

Five years ago, BPO exports from the Philippines were probably 10 per cent of what India exported.

That shows that competition is universal and “we just cannot take success for granted”, he said.

The growth of India’s IT exports has come down to 12-14 per cent in 2008-09 from a compounded annual growth rate of 30 per cent-plus till the previous year.

If one went by guidance of leading companies and less-leading ones, growth is going to be a huge challenge in 2009-10, Premji said.

Infosys CEO S Gopalakrishnan seconded Premji: “We have to be always on our toes. We cannot be complacent about the lead we have, we cannot be complacent about competition”. (ANI)